Dodge Nitro Towing Capacity. How To Tow A Trailer Correctly?

A lot of Americans buy their SUVs for multipurpose tasks. They usually drive with their families, take kids to their schools, go to supermarkets, etc. But sometimes you will need to use your car for towing something. For example, a camping trailer for your weekend trip, or maybe a trailer with some materials for building or renovating your garage.

Anyway, when towing something with your vehicle, you will need to know what the towing capacity of the car is. For Dodge Nitro, it may seem that the towing capacity is quite good because the car is big and powerful. But in real life, this vehicle is not that good when towing something.

Today we'll be discussing:

1. What's the official towing capacity of Dodge Nitro?
2. Why towing a big trailer with your Dodge Nitro is a bad idea?
3. Units that can break down and price of their repair.
4. Rules of safe towing with your Dodge Nitro.

Let's get started!

So, how many pounds can you tow with your Dodge Nitro?

Dodge Nitro can tow safely up to 2000 pounds or around 900 kilograms. These figures are optimal for a trailer with no brakes. If your trailer has 8% or 12% brakes, the towing capacity will be much more interesting. For example, Dodge Nitro 2010 can tow a 5000-pound (2200-kilogram) trailer with decent additional brakes. It means, that your Nitro can actually tow an average fifth wheel or a camper of a big size.

Also, you can tow a big trailer with materials or any other loads if you need. Dodge Nitro is not a bad car for towing if you look at official figures.

But we don't recommend you to get close to the maximum limit of towing capacity. Dodge cars aren't that long-lasting and reliable if you compare them with other vehicles on the market in the same class. They tend to break down and they require costly repairs.

So, today we'll tell you what can go wrong if you tow heavy weights with the help of your Nitro. Also, we'll outline some safety rules that will help you avoid any problems when towing a trailer with your Dodge. It's going to be fun!

What do you need to start towing trailers with your Dodge Nitro?

So, you have the Dodge, you have the trailer. How should you connect one to another? For this, you will need to think about a towbar. This is a special device that is fastened to the rear end of your vehicle where the exhaust pipe is located. The towbar is fastened to the vehicle's frame or body with big bolts and should be professionally connected. Otherwise, your towbar may just fall off while you are driving.

Also, you will need to think about some precautions:

• make sure that the trailer weight is OK for your Nitro - check the towing capacity for your engine;
• make sure that the trailer has all its stop and turn signals working, you will get fined if they don't work properly;
• make sure that the brakes of the trailer work, it's not safe to tow big and heavy trailers with no brakes;
• when connecting the trailer, make sure that the towbar is applied correctly and the trailer will not get lost on the way;
• check the rules in your state that limit the speed of cars that tow trailers and follow these rules;
• make sure you understand that the vehicle is now much longer and needs special steering patterns.

These are extremely important things. Some of the preparations affect the towing capacity your Dodge Nitro has. For example, if you forget to connect the brakes of the trailer to your vehicle, you may just destroy the brakes of the vehicle. When braking, the car will experience huge loads because the trailer will push it from behind. Your brakes will get extremely hot and will start wearing fast. This can lead to big problems, especially if you try to drive in hilly areas.

Why you shouldn't tow big and heavy trailers with your Dodge Nitro?

Big trailers are not a good idea for your car. This SUV was engineered to provide a comfortable ride for passengers. If you want to tow heavy trailers, better think about buying a truck that is initially designed for this. For example. RAM 1500 or Ford F-150 will be a good option for you.

Dodge Nitro is not designed to tow weights. This vehicle has a lot of problems that may make your towing sessions extremely exhausting for the car.

Here are some of the problems:

• automatic transmissions hate towing heavy trailers - these transmissions may just break when towing, their repair is extremely expensive;
• brakes are not as efficient as you may expect - you should understand that breaks may overheat and get broken right when you drive;
• the towbar may be damaged - the Nitro doesn't have any strong construction to fasten your towbar to, this may be a problem;
• the rear suspension may show problems, mainly the shock absorbers and some joints may need repair or replacement;
• fuel consumption may be even worse - your Nitro is hard to call an economic vehicle, but with a trailer, it drinks up all the gas like a monster.

As you see, towing trailers with your Dodge Nitro has some side effects. If we had a Nitro, we would just ask our friend who has a truck to tow our trailer. If you don't think about certain rules, you will just get into trouble once. Dodge Nitro loves breaking down at times, and yes, it's really expensive to repair this vehicle.

How much is to repair your Dodge Nitro?

The price of repair depends much on the year of the vehicle, its mileage, the unit which is broken. Sometimes, the repair will not be expensive if it's just about replacing the brake pads. But at times, your Dodge Nitro will want a massive investment if you tow some heavy trailers without even considering their weight.

A transmission repair is probably the most expensive thing you can get. The labor only will cost around $1000. Another $1000 may be spent on parts.

Also, the rear suspension may be a surprise. The shock absorbers and some other units of the suspension will be really expensive. Also, the labor will not be cheap because the construction of the rear suspension in your Dodge is not that simple.

Some other repairs that may be caused by towing some heavy trailers will not be as expensive. But you should be ready for big problems, too.

Some rules of towing for your Dodge Nitro

The first golden rule - don't tow anything with your Dodge Nitro. If you have any other option, just use it. Towing heavy weight with a Nitro is an extremely bad idea. Well, if it's a small trailer with two bags of potatoes that you have bought from a local farmer, then it's OK. But if you want to tow a big camping trailer, think twice.

The second golden rule comes into action if you didn't follow the first rule. So the second rule says that you should know for sure what the weight of the trailer is. If you don't know the weight of the trailer, you shouldn't tow it at all. This may bring heavy breakdowns with expensive repair in the end.

The third golden rule says that you should never tow anything with your Dodge Nitro if it has any problems with its automatic transmission. Does your transmission punch when it shifts? Does it sound like broken? Does it shift the gears with some problems? Once you tow even a small trailer, you will kill the transmission.

And the fourth golden rule says that you should forget about towing trailers at high speed. When your Dodge Nitro goes at the speed of 70 miles per hour or more, the transmission works in the last gear which is extremely bad for towing. Towing anything on your Dodge Nitro is possible on the first four gears. The fifth gear shouldn't be applied at all.

As you see, the vehicle has a lot of limitations for towing any kind of trailer. This means that you should know the rules in order to avoid any expensive breakdowns and problems.

Final words

Now you know that the towing capacity of your Dodge Nitro is around 2000 pounds if we are talking about a trailer with no additional brakes. Though you can relatively safely tow a 5000-pound trailer if it has brakes. This capacity is important to know because towing heavier trailers will result in serious breakdowns and other problems.

Be careful when arranging everything before you start towing any trailers. This will help you avoid problems like malfunctioning stoplights or turn signals, for example. But the most important thing is that you should feel your car. Dodge Nitro is not designed for towing heavy trailers. So you should feel if the vehicle is OK or not with the trailer that you want to tow.